Her son had a challenge. Physically, he was alright. Mentally, he was unstable, couldn’t sit at one place and behaved more like a toddler for his age.
Personally, I felt his mother should have looked for a personal teacher for him, a teacher who taught him at home. Or maybe, the school should have separate classrooms for such children with a professional in such matters to handle them.
One might argue for “inclusion”, where all kids irrespective of their challenges studied in one classroom. Sounds nice on paper, but under the circumstances I was teaching back then, this was an impossible reality. Other kids in the class made fun of the physically or mentally challenged ones and no matter how hard you scolded or punished the culprits it was never enough to deter them. And to be honest, the special kids sometimes did things that were hard to not laugh at.
And so when Butukwen’s mother approached me for one-on-one lessons with her son, I felt she was throwing her money away. The best teachers in the school could not succeed in teaching him anything…imagine me, a novice. She might have found it offensive had I turned down her offer, thinking perhaps I thought nothing good could come out of her son. The truth was, I didnt have the skills. But how do I explain it to her?
It coincided with the day we teachers were waiting for our salary and those were usually the hardest days of the month. Without waiting for my response, she handed me a fat note and promised more once I started the lessons with her son.
“Money was enough motivation to learn any skill.” I thought.
And I was willing to learn, even if no one was there to teach me.
Right after leaving her presence, I bumped into one of the teachers, Mr. Alabi, an old and experienced teacher. He asked about what the talk with Butukwen’s mother was all about and I explained my new hurdle. I hadn’t finished explaining when he burst into laughter. Naturally, I couldn’t complete my explanations without joining in the laughter too.
And in in the middle of the comic interlude, Butukwen’s mother appeared from no where, perhaps to mention something she forgot during our discussion. Her son’s name was still on our lips amidst the laughter.
It was an embarrassing scene we hoped never happened.
The goal was not to mock at her son or their problem, but the harm had already been done.
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